There are fears doner kebabs could be banned under proposed new EU rules.

Health regulators are trying to ban the phosphates used in the meat after research found it is linked to heart disease.

But takeaway restaurant owners claim this additive is needed to give the kebab its unique taste, and have accused the EU of double standards as some sausages contain the same phosphates it plans to ban, Devon Live reports.

"If the European Parliament gets its way, this would be the death sentence for the entire doner kebab industry in the European Union," said Kenan Koyuncu of the German Association of Doner Kebab Producers.

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Renate Sommer, a member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party, wrote on Facebook that "a ban of the phosphate addition would be the end of doner production and would lead to the loss of thousands of jobs."

The kebab issue came up when the EU Commission proposed to officially authorize the use of phosphates in the lamb, mutton, beef or veal that goes onto a shop spit.